Apple Inc. Earnings: What to Watch For This Week

Breaking down the key story lines as Apple prepares to report its earnings on April 23.

As we head deeper and deeper in the heart of earnings season, we're quickly approaching the big kahuna of tech earnings reports: Apple(NASDAQ:AAPL).

The world's largest publicly traded company is set to report earnings after market close on April 23, and there are plenty of key Apple storylines that investors will want to monitor both in the run-up to Apple's earnings and their aftermath.

What to expect when Apple reportsAs is so often the case with Apple's FY Q2 reports, the analyst community isn't expecting anything earth-shattering in the way of top- or bottom-line developments in the coming report.

The second quarter often marks a lull in Apple's year as the excitement of the holiday quarter sales swoon fades but Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), which often serves as the jumping-off point for Apple's annual product launch cycle, is still months away.

However, that's not to say investors can merely write off this earnings report either as several important Apple investing story lines will likely further unfold with the report such as a dividend or buyback increase or the possibility of gaining some kind of information about Apple's coming product portfolio. In the video below, tech and telecom specialist Andrew Tonner discusses the key numbers and additional items investors will want to monitor as Apple reports later this week.